Thursday, August 9, 2007

Although it's still doubtful whether one of our Bollywood beauties will land a role in a Bond film, a Bond girl has already been roped in for a Hindi film. Caterina Murino, who played the sexy seductress Solange in Casino Royale will star in director Anubhav Sinha's next venture Chase.

Anubhav had reportedly approached the Italian actress for doing an item number in his latest movie Cash. But he changed his mind and decided to cast Caterina in a lead role in his forthcoming action flick to be shot in Italy. Along with Caterina, Anubhav will be introducing three newcomers in the film whom he is grooming himself.

Caterina's took part in beauty pageants in 1996, before studying drama and acting in theater. Her television career took off in 2002, which was followed by a number of Italian films. But it was Casino Royale that finally brought her into the limelight in 2006. And now, it's Bollywood calling.

Joanna Krupa Bares All in Latest Anti-Fur Ad

Joanna Krupa, who has been voted the world's most-beautiful woman by several magazines, became the latest celebrity to bare all in an anti-fur advertisement launched Thursday.

Wearing only spiked heels and pictured standing in front of the Hong Kong skyline, Krupa has been used by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific in its latest "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" advert.

The photo of Krupa, which has sensitive areas either airbrushed or covered by a small purse, will appear in magazines and billboards.

Commenting on her support for the anti-fur campaign she said: "There is nothing sexy about wearing something that is so obviously tied to senseless pain and killing."

The campaign aims to draw attention to the inhumane treatment animals suffer in the name of fashion.

Other celebrities, who have bared all in previous PETA adverts, include Kim Basinger, Pamela Anderson and Christy Turlington.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A Boob Job can Triple Long-Term Suicide Risk

A boob job may give you the breasts you have been craving for, but doctors are warning that it can also triple the risk of suicide in women.

The finding is based on a long-term study conducted by researchers at International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville.

As a part of the study, lead researcher Dr. Loren Lipworth and colleagues performed an extended follow-up study of 3,527 Swedish women who underwent cosmetic breast implant surgery between 1965 and 1993.

They then used the death certificate data to analyze causes of death among women with breast implants, compared to the general female population.

They found that the long-term risk of suicide is tripled for women who have undergone cosmetic breast implant surgery.

The risk was greatest—nearly seven times higher—for women who received their breast implants at age 45 or older. (The average age at breast implant surgery was 32 years.)

Suicide risk was not significantly increased for the first ten years after implant surgery. After that, however, suicide risk increased with time since surgery—risk was 4.5 times higher from 10 to 19 years' follow-up, and six times higher after 20 years.

The researchers also noted that women with breast implants also had higher rates of death from psychiatric disorders, including a three-fold increase in deaths resulting from alcohol and drug dependence.

Several additional deaths, classified as accidents or injuries, might have been suicides or involved psychiatric disorders or drug/alcohol abuse as a contributing cause.

"Thus at least 38 deaths (22 percent of all deaths) in this implant cohort were associated with suicide, psychologic disorders, and/or drug and alcohol abuse/dependence," the researchers write.

There was no increase in the risk of death from cancer, including breast cancer, among women with breast implants.

Several epidemiological studies have found an increased suicide rate among women with cosmetic breast implants.

The current study provides extended follow-up data on a previous nationwide study of Swedish women with breast implants, more than doubling the number of deaths analyzed.

Tom Cruise so loves Victoria Beckham’s British accent and turn of phrase, that he’s now asking her to give him a few lessons.

A source revealed that the actor has started mimicking words that come out of Posh’s mouth every time she says something ‘really English’.

“Tom thinks her words and phrases are brilliant. Whenever he’s round there and she says something really English he starts mimicking her,” the Daily Express quoted the source, as saying.

“She’ll say things like ‘bloody hell’ and ‘blimey’. And she’ll say ‘come on chaps’ to her sons. Tom loves hearing it all and is building up a bit of an English vocabulary himself,” the source added.

The insider also revealed that though Posh was initially very amused by the way Cruise was enthralled with the way she talks, she’s now getting used to it since Will Smith is apparently as keen on her accent.

“Victoria is amused by his enthusiasm over her everyday chatter. But she’s starting to get used to it – because another friend, Will Smith, also likes taking off her accent and phrases,” the insider said.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Pamela Anderson now in love with a magician

The Baywatch beauty is currently performing with Klok as his assistant in his magic shows.

She told American TV chat show host Craig Ferguson: 'There's a lot of love backstage. It's very physical, it's very loving.' Former Baywatch also says that she plans to quit Hollywood because she loves her "glamorous" role alongside illusionist Hans Klok.

She has been signed up to stay on at Klok's Las Vegas magic show until the end of the year, sources reported.

Anderson said on her website: "I love theatre. My entrance broke on stage tonight. Crazy. But those are the moments. I'm having the best time. I want to be in Vegas forever. So glamorous.

"I'm rehearsing another illusion tonight. I'm definitely staying till December. Then who knows? No more TV or film. This is what I love doing. It's so over the top."

Monday, August 6, 2007

Paris Hilton now only wants a mature dude

The socialite had a series of dates with Adler, who was earlier dumped by Barton after his nude pics appeared on ParisExposed.com.

And it seems The O.C. actress has no issues with her ex dating Hilton, for Barton, who earlier dated oil scion Brandon Davis, a close pal of The Simple Life star, is tired of ‘immature’ guys in her life.

“I'd like someone who's mature. God, I can't take another immature person,” the Sun quoted Barton, as saying.

Earlier, the actress was shocked to see Adler’s bare-all pics on the site, which put out a few video clips obtained from the hotel heiress’ belongings from a storage locker.

However, Adler had said that Barton wasn’t amused by the news, and that it was more difficult for her than for him in many ways.

"Mischa wasn't too excited, to say the least I think it was actually worse for her than for me in some ways,” the Sun quoted Adler, as saying.

29 year-old Cisco, who is the lead singer of rock band Whitestarr, had added that he would be more cautious about his sexcapades.

Looking at the final result, the direction certainly would had held his breath for the longest period before summoning his birth-right to yell CUT, till that breaking point, when he thought that the action could on continue on any longer, without the actors seriously injuring themselves. As the cars careen down the busy roads of bustling New York rush hour morning traffic at speeds, reserved specifically to race-car drivers, and people with suicidal tendencies, the camera dutifully plays the part of the curious gawker, who could not turn his eyes away from the inevitable crash. And yet the moment never arrives. Near misses, close calls and lucky moves push the envelope further and further down the path of the glorious doom. William Friedkin's "The French Connection" set a standard in the industry for car chases. It relies so much on the artistry of the stunt personnel involved in the proceedings, so much so that a razor-edge, wafer-thin move in the wrong direction, would certainly had resulted in great loss of property and lives of everyone, even remotely connected to the shoot, like a passer-by, who had the misfortune of cross paths with a motor vehicle, moving at illegal speeds. Yet, in retrospect, the director seems to be unfazed by the challenge at hand, and instead allowed the action to continue on, with least amount of cuts, in long continuous takes. The 20 or so minute sequence that spans chases foot flight, trains and automobiles leans heavily so much on the precise timing and sublime skill of the stuntmen, and moves as far away as possible, from optical illusions and editing smoke and mirrors techniques. What happens on the screen was what transpired during the shoot. Friedkin realized that the only way to shoot a car chase and make it as interesting and as adrenaline pumping as possible, is to get into a car and shoot the chase from close quarters - nothing more, nothing less. The key ingredient to a believable stunt sequence is realism.

Panic and paranoia are two faces of the same coin, with one instigating the other and the other feeding off the first. The inability to comprehend the nature of the events coupled with the impending danger, provides the right platform for an explosive situation. Add a little volatility to the moment, the subsequent action would pretty much write itself and all it needs is a little camera to follow around to catch the action. Before CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) became synonymous to action in Hollywood, there existed an interesting period, particularly during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, during the 70s, when action equated to realism. The more realistic an action sequence is, the greater is its effect. Though the rule still applies even to this day and age, the directors' penchant (or fetish, in case of likes like Michael Bay) for creating most of the action in post-production offices on computers and editing tables, takes away the rough edge of those sequences, making them look flat, unemotional and sometimes, even cartoonish, like the recent Die Hard 4, Transformers, and their brethren. Back in 70s, a great many movies understood this symbiotic relationship, and the results were stuff legends were made of - The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor, Blow Out, The Conversation, French Connection and other such great movies defined, how action plays out in real situations, as danger always lurks in the near corner, ready to pounce upon at the slightest opporunity or provocation, whichever comes first, and the camera is only a few feet behind, to catch all the action firsthand.

Take the case of The Godfather - Michael has just caught his brother-in-law Carlos red-handed, in the murder plot of his brother Sonny, and yet he lets him off the cook, and banishes him to Vegas, far from his family in New York. As Carlos gets into the car front-seat, he is greeted by Clemenza, Michael's right hand, sitting in the back-seat, happy to escort Carlos to the airport. What happens in the next couple of minutes is as brutal as it could get. A sharp wire comes over Carlos' throat, as Clemeza tugs the wire hard cutting a paranoid Carlos' hand, caught between the wire and the throat deeply in the process. Blood gushes out his hand as the wire continues to cut through the hand, digging deep in to bone, and through the throat. Carlos struggles to gasp for breath, as he launches himself into the air, and starts kicking the front pane of the car's window hard. The shot reverses to the outside of the car now. The foot (boot) continues to kick the window harder and harder, causing the break-away glass to fly in all directions, as Carlos slowly slumps into his seat and dies a ghastly and a horrible death - with a cut hand and a slit throat. Talk about realism and the sequence is straight out of real life police FIRs and coroner's reports, and the effect is one of great shock and pure fright.

"Battle of Algiers" remains a very important movie that spurned the success of the near realistic, documentary style, Verité (Latin, verity = truth) style of film-making, where the fine lines between realism and reality are smudged and each is made to look like the other, without much effort. This French movie, made in 1966, is still considered the bible for staging action sequences. The movie is about the French occupation of the African country of Algeria, and the subsequent rebellion that eventually drove out the French forces. Shot in a then unique documentary style, it breaks down the trusted barrier between the audience and the action, placing the audience right in the midst of marketplace explosions, suicide bombings, hit and run guerrilla warfares of the rebels. Hollywood (and the rest of the world) embraced this style with open arms during the following years of the 60s and the 70s and the result was a glut of near-realistic action movies, that employed less of gimmickry and lots of guts. Though the style is all but extinct, thanks to the phenomenal rise of the (computer) machines, green screens, blue screens, wire-work etc, where the final product on the screen is no where close, to what happened in front of the camera during the shoot, an occasional surprise from the other side of the Atlantic, sprung up once in a while to show that there are still fervent followers of the guy who made "Battle of Algiers", 40 years ago. Surprisingly, lack of great budgets seem to motivate these makers to go back to the basics and retool their designs, so that the same disadvantage could work to the benefit of the movie. And out of that necessity for simplicity was borne, 5 years ago, Jason Bourne on the other side of the ocean.

Right from the first one in the series, The Bourne Identity, to the one in question, The Bourne Ultimatum, the travails of the amnesiac assassin Bourne, are depicted in a matter of fact way. As the series progressed, the camera switched gears from over-drive to hyper-drive as the motion became more and more kinetic. If Bourne has to jump from one rooftop to another, and in an extremely thrilling maneuver, from a rooftop directly into a window of building right in front, the camera just follows up like a faithful companion (even if it has to make the same jump from the rooftop into the window using the same wire-work suited up to the SteadiCam operator), without ever leaving his side. Pacing is the principal element that is greatly played with, in this final installment of the series. All the extraneous fat, like expositions, character developments, in some cases, even dialogue, is done away with and the result is a lean, mean, fast-talking, fast-moving, motion picture, just like Bourne. Paul Greengrass, the director, who also helmed the previous edition, seems to have honed his craft of story telling, keeping the action in tight frames - close-ups and medium shots, moving the camera at the same frenetic pace as his subject. Though Bourne Supremacy was a little jerky for its own comfort, Greengrass' subsequent venture, United 93, which was a documentary style retelling of the heroic efforts of the fateful passengers of the flight on the morning of 9/11, struck the right balance between camera movement and close action in tight spaces. The resulting action is not so much as the violence as it a ballet (of bullets and blood). The interesting discovery that panic and paranoia get progressively worse as space around the subject starts shrinking and starts closing in, is the chief reason why the series has worked so greatly, setting its action pieces in crowded public areas, small office spaces, and other close confines.

The series ends on the same note it had started on, a few years ago, with Bourne presumed dead in a large body of water, rising like a Phoenix to his glory. Funny, how the same applies to the style of film-making.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Brangelina heading for splitsville?

Hollywood's celebrated couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, popularly termed as Brangelina, is on the verge of a split following a furious fight, say reports.

The couple, who have been dating since 2005, were allegedly involved in an argument that saw Angelina throw a glass of red wine over Pitt after he accused her of being "immature" during a vacation in France, World Entertainment News Network reported.

Reports also say the pair has discussed custody plans to be put in place for kids Maddox, Zahara, Pax and Shiloh if they break up.A source tells Life & Style magazine: "Angie was cursing him and ending up throwing a glass of wine in his face. Brad was absolutely disgusted by her behavior.

"Brad's had enough of doing what Angie wants to do and following her around the globe."

Victoria warns Paris Hilton

Victoria Beckham has reportedly warned Paris Hilton to stay away from her soccer star husband David. The Spice Girl, who moved to Los Angeles with David and their three sons earlier this month, was said to be furious when she heard the hotel heiress had described the Los Angeles Galaxy player as "hot".

Now she has allegedly told friends that Paris and other young Hollywood stars - including Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears - better keep their hands off David.

A source told a British magazine, "This move to Los Angeles means everything to her. She is happier with David than ever and sees this as an exciting chapter for her and their boys. Although she trusts David 100 per cent, she will not tolerate any of the Los Angeles party girls making a move on him, or seeing him as fair game.”

"She wants this to be very clear from the start - David is a devoted family man and these women should forget about trying it on with him. "The young Hollywood club crowd, such as Lindsay, Paris and Britney, are positively salivating over David," the source added.

Last week, it was claimed Victoria had turned down Paris' offer of friendship. Paris is reported to have said about Victoria: "We could be soul mates." However, the ‘Wannab' singer apparently told a pal: "Over my dead body!"